I really need some help please. I'm pretty new at building CSS/XHTML websites and am trying to learn the proper way to build out my sites. I'm aware of the w3c standards, but would really like to hear from actual web designers the best way to approach these 2 issues.

1) what is the best process to use to get the cleanest, non-jagged graphics for your site? (like round buttons?)
EX: create in Photoshop at 72dpi, save for web as PNG-24.
EX: create in Illustrator, save for web as SVG.

2) what is the best way to create rounded corners? Right now I am using images, but I've been reading up recently on using pure CSS or using Spiffy Box or Spiffy Corners. What does everyone recommend? My top priority is that the corners are as nice and clean/sharp as possible.

Currently, I have a site I'm working on for a friend and the round buttons and round corners are all pixelated. I'm struggling to find a solution that works. Seems that every time I try something he tells me it's not good enough and the edges need to be cleaner.

Couldn't be MORE incorrect... That's using tables and tables are well outdated and a bad practice. For rounded corners i use a small png image i generally have 2 images 1 for the top and bottom extending the width of the website, if you want to make it fluid then you're going to need 4 to place at the 4 corners so it can expand.

I generally use png's for the transparent background this way i can change background colors/images as needed without changing the image... If you do this save as png24 under "Save For Web & Devices" in Photoshop

Couldn't be MORE incorrect... That's using tables and tables are well outdated and a bad practice. For rounded corners i use a small png image i generally have 2 images 1 for the top and bottom extending the width of the website, if you want to make it fluid then you're going to need 4 to place at the 4 corners so it can expand.

I generally use png's for the transparent background this way i can change background colors/images as needed without changing the image... If you do this save as png24 under "Save For Web & Devices" in Photoshop

I thought I had enabled a subscription to my post, but apparently I didn't since I didn't know anyone had responded until I logged in today so my apologies for the delay. I wanted to say thank you for the info. I really appreciate it. I know the method you are talking about. I wasn't sure what would be the correct one, but it sounds like this method is recommended by several others too. So... this will be the method I'll focus on learning.